Simelane defends R34bn housing budget amid fierce criticism and allegations of betrayal of the poor

News24

5 hours ago

Minister Thembi Simelane tabled a R34 billion human settlements budget, promising 237 000 new housing units and 80 000 title deeds over the next five years.
Opposition parties rejected the budget, citing inflation, corruption, and institutional collapse in the department and its entities.
EFF and MKP accused the government of failing the landless, while the DA raised concerns about Simelane's alleged links to VBS-related corruption.
Human Settlements Minister Thembi Simelane has tabled a budget of over R30 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, pledging that the department will focus on unblocking stalled housing projects, issuing long-delayed title deeds, and rolling out service stands and housing units in line with the Freedom Charter's call for 'houses, security and comfort'.
Simelane said the department was determined to honour the promises of the Freedom Charter, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.
'We stand this afternoon on that pillar to ensure that our people enjoy comfortable and secure homes, where they can raise their families without fear of displacement and inadequate living conditions,' Simelane said.
Key commitments
Over the medium-term expenditure framework (2024–2029), the department of human settlements has committed to:
Delivering 237 000 Breaking New Ground (BNG) housing units
Providing 314 000 service stands
Disbursing 140 000 subsidies for the 'missing middle' through first home finance
Upgrading 4 075 informal settlements
Delivering 150 000 social housing units
Handing over 80 000 title deeds
Eradicating at least 8 047 mud houses in rural provinces
Simelane noted that some of the previous targets, including those for service stands and social housing, had already been surpassed in the last financial year.
'We understand this does not mean we will be able to eradicate all backlogs,' she said, 'but our intention is clear — we are dealing with unfinished and stalled projects and budget constraints head-on.'
Immediate 2025/26 Targets
For the 2025/26 financial year, the department plans to deliver:
4 944 housing units
32 250 fully serviced stands
4 282 first home finance units
3 000 new social housing units
The department has also committed to improving the collection rate on rental stock from 90% to 95%, despite common narratives that municipalities are failing to generate income on these properties.
90% of all our utilities perform the way they were designed to. Our target is 95% collection,' Simelane said.
Thembi Simelane
Fiscal constraints and climate challenges
The total budget allocation for the year is R34 billion, with R30 billion ringfenced as grants to provinces and metros, 90.7% of the total. Of that, R16.9 billion will go to provinces and R13.9 billion to metros.
Simelane flagged natural disasters – especially floods in KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape, Free State and Western Cape – as a key threat to human settlement planning.
We've had countless disasters in recent months. The budget allocation for disasters is R336 million, but the damage in the Eastern Cape from the Umthata floods alone surpasses this figure.
Simelane
Unlocking land and title deeds
Simelane said the department remained concerned about delays in issuing title deeds. Obstacles include township establishment backlogs and restrictive environmental regulations. She said recent engagements with the Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment had started to yield progress in unlocking at least 300 000 housing units.
'These are communities that already reside on the land. We are working with the National Environmental Management Act and the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act to get the necessary waivers,' Simelane said.
Partnerships and technology
Simelane revealed that the department is mapping all 4075 informal settlements, using data to assess which are viable for upgrades and which need to be relocated due to environmental risk.
Engagements with social movements like Abahlali baseMjondolo and SETAs are under way to prioritise vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities, the elderly and child-headed households.
'Our clear-cut mandate is to develop a unique, participatory human settlements strategy that integrates local needs and aligns programmes across all levels of government,' she said.
Despite a constrained fiscus, Simelane remained upbeat:
'With fiscal cuts dictating that we do more with less, we are determined to ensure that every cent goes toward building homes of comfort and security.'
Opposition slams and rejects budget
EFF MP Mbali Dlamini slammed the budget as 'an empty promise wrapped in inflation and false hope', warning that no real gains could be expected when allocations were being eroded by a 5.2% inflation rate.
'This budget fails the most basic test. It does not speak to the housing backlog, which now exceeds 2.3 million units, as admitted by the department itself,' Dlamini said.
She criticised the government's continued outsourcing of service delivery.
Year after year, we watch in horror as municipalities return billions in unspent housing grants while our people sleep in the open veld… Consultants, many with links to the ruling elite, are paid millions while local government collapses.
Mbali Dlamini
The EFF called for the nationalisation of urban land, the creation of a state-led construction company and the abolition of reliance on private developers.
MKP: Budget in real decline, not enough for urban migration
MKP MP Thulani Innocent Gamede warned that none of the department's five key programmes saw inflation-adjusted increases, calling the allocation 'a retreat from addressing deeply entrenched spatial inequalities'.
'The 12.8% real-terms decrease in the informal settlements programme is particularly alarming,' he said, blaming the decline for undermining the fight against unsafe and overcrowded communities.
Gamede added that the budget lacked urgency in resolving backlogs in title deeds and failed to reform sluggish procurement systems and ineffective grant use.
DA: 'Minister cannot be trusted with a single rand'
The DA's Luyolo Mphithi questioned how Simelane could be trusted with the R34 billion allocation while facing corruption allegations.
He cited multiple investigations and suspensions involving senior officials at the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHFC) and HDA, adding that the entire housing system was collapsing under mismanagement.
'In Nigel, municipal officials have sold off homes. In Stillwater, Northern Cape, homes collapsed just ten days after construction. And title deeds in Soweto are gathering dust,' said Mphithi.
Referring to Simelane's alleged connection to VBS Mutual Bank-related corruption, Mphithi said:
This minister cannot be trusted with a single rand, let alone R34 billion.
Luyolo Mphiti
Rise Mzansi: 'Safeguard communities from hyenas'
Makashule Gana of Rise Mzansi said his party supported the idea of a robust housing programme but warned against the 'hyenas' inside the department siphoning off public funds.
'South Africans are being priced out of their homes by short-term rentals and market speculation,' Gana said. 'We welcome tourists, but the unchecked rise of digital nomads buying up property for profit is unacceptable.'
He called for a stronger focus on safeguarding existing housing stock, preventing climate change-related displacement and eliminating corruption at every level.
READ: R36 million vanished yet the same contractors remain – Simelane grilled over dodgy, incomplete housing projects
Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane has accused the DA, EFF, and MK Party of 'rejecting the transformation of the post-school education and training sector' after they opposed her department's 2025/26 budget.
Nkabane tabled the Department of Higher Education and Training's budget vote before the National Council of Provinces on Tuesday, arguing that the allocations were aimed at improving the performance and efficiency of the country's post-school education system.
Earlier that day, the DA opened a criminal case against Nkabane, citing alleged fraud and breaches of parliamentary rules under Section 26 of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislature Act.
Under the proposed budget:
TVET colleges are allocated R14 billion, up from R13.1 billion;
Sector Education and Training Authorities and the National Skills Fund receive a combined R26 billion;
NSFAS funding rises to R48.7 billion; and
University education funding climbs from R91.7 billion to R96 billion.
Nkabane acknowledged a R1.4 billion shortfall in university funding and conceded that NSFAS would remain insufficient to meet the growing demand.
Responding to the budget, DA MP Jeanne Adriaanse called for Nkabane's removal, saying:
'It is time for President Ramaphosa to fire Minister Nkabane and clean up the ANC's criminal network from the heart of Parliament.'
She also accused the minister of attempting to 'cover her tracks' after appointing ANC-linked individuals to SETAs, only to withdraw the appointments after public outcry.
EFF MP Laetitia Arries rejected the budget, saying:
'You have failed to account for appointments that are glaring examples of political patronage... This department is always ill-prepared to welcome thousands of students at the start of the academic year, especially the missing middle who don't qualify for NSFAS and can't afford tuition.'
In reply, Nkabane said:
'Those who are rejecting the budget are rejecting the transformation of the post-school education and training sector in South Africa. They are not rejecting the budget of Nobuhle Nkabane.'